Team to get word out

The Carbon Rodeo Team Rodeo will be held on April 15 and 16, 2005. They will be teaming with the Utah High School Rodeo Association to help get the word about the harmful effects of tobacco.

The minor leagues banned smokeless tobacco in 1993, but major league teams have not done as well at bat, with 40 percent of their players still using chew or dip. There are three reasons why smokeless tobacco and sports are a losing combination. First, ingredients found in smokeless tobacco include nicotine (addictive drug), polonium 210 (nuclear waste), cadmium (used in car batteries), N-Nitrosamines (cancer-causing) and lead (poison). Second, in the body, the nicotine from smokeless tobacco, which is twice the amount contained in a cigarette, causes constricted blood vessels that can slow down reaction time and cause dizziness- not a good move if you play sports. Finally, long-term smokeless tobacco users have a 50 times greater risk of developing oral cancer than nonusers. Users have had parts of their face, tongue, cheek or lip removed because of their habit. Half of those affected by oral cancer will not be alive five years after the initial diagnosis.

A lot of athletes get hooked before they know the facts about dip and chew. They don't know that chewing tobacco is highly addictive- contains nicotine- limits athletic performance- is not a safe alternative to cigarettes.

Smokeless tobacco users who dip or chew 8 to 10 times a day may be exposed to the same amount of nicotine as persons who smoke 30 to 40 cigarettes a day. Smokeless products are dangerously addictive. In fact, a chewing habit can often times be harder to quit than smoking. Nicotine is a highly addicting drug, perhaps even more addicting than heroin or cocaine.